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With little fanfare, a rare phenomenon occurred after the 8/18 Magic Online downtime: the introduction of a new Limited format! 4-Booster Sealed has officially replaced traditional Sealed Deck in the Sealed Swiss queues of Magic Online. Between Leagues and Rochester, I’m more used to Magic Online losing formats than gaining them. In fact, this is the first new, officially-supported Limited format that I can remember seeing since the launch of Magic Online, unless you count adding a pack to make traditional Sealed six boosters. So what the heck is it? How can you possibly make a reasonable deck with only four packs to work with? The official rules can be found here, but your executive summary is:

• 8-man queues
• 4 Boosters, 0 tickets required for entry
• Players make 30-card decks from four booster packs
• Three rounds of Swiss
• Prize structure: 5 packs for 3-0, 3 packs for 2-1, and 1 pack for 1-2

Interesting, right? My first question is…why? The primary reason is almost certainly that not as many people were playing in the Sealed Swiss queues as WotC wanted or expected, as they probably wouldn’t fix a format they didn’t consider broken. Basically, every sanctioned event you enter is a vote in an ongoing election held by Wizards of the Coast to determine what formats to offer players. This is why Extended changed, and this must be at least one of the big reasons Sealed Swiss has changed.

(This “voting with your wallet” system is also why I hold such a grudge against 4-3-2-2, by the way. As an informed gambler, it’s frustrating to see people play casino games with poor odds like roulette and slots when the same core experience—the gamble—can be purchased for a much better price right there in the same room. Such is the case with Magic Online draft queues. For the casino literate: 8-4 is like blackjack with light counting or craps with a maximum free-odds bet, Swiss is like no-vig pai gow poker (skipping the fortune bet), and 4-3-2-2 is like roulette and slots. Force the house to support games with better odds and stop playing 4-3-2-2s, people!)

Anyway, people must not have been playing much Sealed Swiss, and Wizards of the Coast thinks this is a format people might play instead. One problem with 6-Booster Sealed has that this format solves is the high entry cost. If you have six packs on hand, most people are are more likely to want to play in two drafts than in one sealed deck event, so this structure moves the cost of a sealed much closer to the cost of a draft.

The prize structure is interesting as well. As a supporter of the oft-maligned Swiss Draft queue, this payout structure looks great to me, particularly because no tickets are required. If we call the cost of a booster 4 tickets, 4-Booster Sealed costs 16 tickets to play, while a standard Draft costs 14 tickets to play. Besides opening an extra pack of cards for your two tickets, the 3-0 prize pays out two extra packs compared to a Swiss Draft, and the 2-1 prize pays out an extra pack compared to the 2-1 prize in Swiss Draft. This is quite significant, and unless you are frequently going 0-3 or 1-2 in the format, more than makes up for the additional 2 tickets needed to enter.

The other big question: 30-card decks? OMGWTF! I find this super interesting. Basically, we shave off 33% of our card pool, but only 25% of our deck size. Ostensibly, this means the decks will be a little worse than the current 40-card, 6-Booster decks, but not by too much. Back in the day, Sealed events used to be 5-Booster affairs (with no basic land in the pack), and these decks will still be better on average than those decks. 30-card decks will produce a more bomb-driven than normal, since the player that lucks into opening the mythic super-bomb of a given set is going to draw it more often.

Another consideration is the effect on mill strategies. While it is hard to open the cards for a legitimate mill deck in most Sealed formats (as opposed to drafting one), the number of mill cards needed before the strategy becomes viable is certainly lower in a 30-card environment. If you play in an M11 4-Booster Sealed and pull triple Tome Scour and double Jace's Erasure, you may have yourself a mill deck if you have the defensive cards to back them up.

Deckbuilding

Excited to try the first new Limited format to hit the online scene in basically forever, I entered the queue and busted open my four packs:

1 Rotting Legion
1 Fire Servant
1 Arc Runner
1 Barony Vampire
2 Wild Griffin
1 Awakener Druid
1 Prized Unicorn
1 Elite Vanguard
1 Vulshok Berserker
1 Assault Griffin
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Phantom Beast
1 Air Servant
1 Greater Basilisk
1 Earth Servant
1 Duskdale Wurm
1 Spined Wurm
1 Sacred Wolf
1 Bloodthrone Vampire
1 Bloodcrazed Goblin
1 Giant Spider
1 Water Servant
2 Tireless Missionaries
1 Stormfront Pegasus
1 Garruk's Companion
1 Brindle Boar
1 Manic Vandal
1 Blinding Mage
1 Leyline of Sanctity
1 Dragon's Claw
1 Assassinate
1 Unholy Strength
1 Naturalize
2 Holy Strength
1 Honor of the Pure
1 Tome Scour
2 Plummet
1 Preordain
1 Mass Polymorph
1 Ice Cage
1 Giant Growth
1 Diminish
1 Inspired Charge
1 Call to Mind
2 Jace's Erasure
1 Sword of Vengeance
1 Shiv's Embrace
1 Sign in Blood
1 Deathmark
2 Duress

The first thing I note is the bomb, Sword of Vengeance, which is will go into any deck I submit. I have no other playable artifacts. As for the colors, let’s view them like I do during deckbuilding: one color at a time, sorted by casting cost:

The double Holy Strength and double Tireless Missionaries are disappointing and the leyline is unplayable, but the Blinding Mage is one of the better commons in the set, and the stable of white flyers is appealing. A definite maybe. Blue?

I have a few of the mill ingredients discussed above, but not at a density I’m comfortable enough to run in my first-ever 4-Booster Sealed. The two servants are great, but blue doesn’t feel deep enough overall for me to think that I’ll be running it in my final build unless the next three colors are all extremely disappointing. Black?

If the Deathmark and Assassinate were a couple of Doom Blades instead, I’d have a great splash option. As it is, the removal I do have in black doesn’t seem worth a maindeck splash, nor does black seem deep enough to be a main color, even taking into account the relativity of “deep” in a 30-card format. Perhaps red has something for us.

The red is interesting. We have a dragon maker in Shiv's Embrace, and four solidly-playable creatures, plus a Manic Vandal in case of opposing artifacts. Combined with white, I would still only have about 13 or 14 cards I was happy to play though, so if I went white-red, I’d have to find a splash as well, or play things like the Tireless Missionaries. Hopefully green bails this pool out.

It remains to be seen whether or not we maindeck Naturalize or either of the Plummets, but green is clearly one of the colors to play. Brindle Boar is unexciting, but all the other creatures will make the cut easily. The question now is: what pairs best with green in this pool? Given the complete lack of fixing, I’m hoping to keep this a two-color affair. Red and white were the two colors that stood out as being deep enough to be a main color, so let’s take a look at a green-white build and a green-red build.

Since we are losing 25% of our deck size, we can adjust standard ratios down by that much as well. I consider 15 creatures “par” in a 40-card deck, so I would expect to see 11-12 as par here. Land is usually 17 or 18, and 75% of 17.5 is 13.125, so I am thinking 13 lands and 17 spells is correct in 4-Booster Sealed, perhaps 14 lands if you have an expensive top end.

Here’s how green-red would look:

Shiv's Embrace is a nice combo with Sacred Wolf, but the deck really isn’t doing much until turn four, and lacks any evasion beyond the embrace, the sword, and my seven drop. I don’t like maindecking the Manic Vandal with the sword in my deck either, although swapping it out for the Naturalize or one of the Plummets in the board is an option too.

How about green-white?

I like this build a little better. Ironically, it’s the build with “removal” thanks to the Blinding Mage, and it looks like it could apply some early pressure in a format where I expect people will not be as prepared to handle it. Elite Vanguard is pretty much only superior to a random bear when he comes down on turn one, but even if he’s relegated to block-and-trade duty fairly quickly, he ought to hit once or twice first and then trade with something more expensive. The sword also has the ability to make weenies relevant in the late game.

Unless my opponents have an air force of their own or a Giant Spider to make things difficult, I can see this build stealing some fairly quick wins. I submit the green-white build and enter the fray.

R1G1

I choose to play with this aggressive build but have to mulligan a one-lander, finding these six: 

Looks like the nice aggressive start I was hoping for! I keep, dropping my plains and the Elite Vanguard. Villain plays a Forest, and I rip Sword of Vengeance before playing a land, casting the Stormfront Pegasus, and hitting for 2 (20 – 18). Villain has a Mountain and fetches a second with Sylvan Ranger, the bane of one-toughness, non-evasive aggro creatures everywhere. Hopefully the sword will eventually return the vanguard to relevance, but for now it’s a lesson on why Elite Vanguard isn't that good in Limited. I had him in the ideal spot—turn one on the play—and only got through once before having to hold him back.

I pull a Forest, cast the Sword of Vengeance, and attack for another two in the air (20 – 16). Villain plays a Forest, casts Birds of Paradise, then passes it back with a Forest and a Mountain up. I draw a Plains and decide between casting the Assault Griffin and equipping the sword. What’s your play?

R1G1 #1

I like the griffin here. While equipping the vanguard would lead to an extra 4 damage right now, casting the griffin leads to an extra 3 damage next turn, and avoids a Lightning Bolt blowout. I don’t like equipping creatures in the face of common removal mana unless I have nothing else to do. Also, if I draw one of my other two drops next turn, I can cast and equip. The pegasus hits, the griffin enters the battlefield without incident, and I ship the turn back (20 – 14).

A fireball for an X of 1 targeting my pegasus and vanguard cramp my style, but I take back the turn hoping a sword-wielding Assault Griffin will be enough to get there. A land off the top does nothing to change the plan, so the griffin picks up the sword and swings for 5 (20 – 9). Villain has a Juggernaut that I’m happy to race, but no land drop, suggesting that five spells remain in hand.

I pull a currently-uncastable Duskdale Wurm, but it ought to be a nice insurance policy for this game if the griffin doesn’t finish things, as 7 points of toughness is not something red can generally do much about, much less 9 points of first strike, trample and vigilance. I drop land #6 and hit for another 4 after the birds chump to save a point of damage (20 – 5).

I’m considering whether or not to block with the Assault Griffin when Villain makes it moot with Act of Treason. The attack drops me to 9 (9 – 5), and I’m bracing for a Fling to complete the dramatic turnaround, but it doesn’t happen and I take the turn back. A seventh land off the top has me feeling good even in the face of something like a Lightning Bolt, but it proves unnecessary, as the griffin makes it through for lethal.

Birds of Paradise isn’t worth a Plummet and I decide against bringing in the Naturalize based on one target, submitting an unchanged deck for game two.

R1G2

Villain elects to play and mulligans, while I have a keeper:

Turn-one vanguard again for my lucksacky self! Villain has to go to five, and opens on a Forest and a Llanowar Elves. Another vanguard killer, but given the mull to five, I’ll be happy to offer that trade. I draw Awakener Druid and cast the vanguard before passing. Villain has a turn-two Birds of Paradise, but is already down to two cards in hand. I drop the Forest, send in the vanguard, and pass after it goes unblocked (20 – 18).

Villain drops a third land and casts Juggernaut, a fine play given the mull to five. The elf hits me for 1 (19 – 18) before I untap and draw Spined Wurm. I could hold back on the Awakener Druid to trade my Giant Growth and vanguard for the Juggernaut, but I’m at a healthy life total and would rather try to set up a 1:1 with a 4/5 Forest + Giant Growth. First I swing with the vanguard, though, as I don’t think the juggernaut will block, and if it does, I will accept the 2:1. The vanguard gets in for 2 as expected (19 – 16), and I drop the druid, making a tapped 4/5 treefolk out of my one Forest.

The Juggernaut hits me for 5 before Villain casts Crystal Ball, one of the more groan-inducing non-rare spells you can cast in the format (14 – 16). I take back the turn and pull a second Forest, making me feel better about turning my first one into a vulnerable creature. I could start racing with the treefolk and vanguard, hold back to Giant Growth the treefolk, or cast Assault Griffin and trade with that. What’s your play here?

R1G2 #1

Being up three on cards has me feeling patient. I want to try to spend the Giant Growth to take out the Juggernaut, then take over the game from there with big creatures and sheer card advantage. I attack with the vanguard, then pass (14 – 14). Villan uses the ball, putting both cards back on top. Ruh roh. One of the cards is clearly the Act of Treason which Villain uses to take my treefolk/forest, and attacks in. New plan?

R1G2 #2

I’m not comfortable just taking all this damage and going to 4 against an opponent with a Crystal Ball in play and a Fireball hiding somewhere in his remaining 22 cards. With some high-pressure offense in hand, I elect to block the Juggernaut with the druid and Giant Growth it to take out the 5/3. I take 5 and turn my treefolk back into a Forest, but I can re-mount an offense with the biggest threat out of the way (9 – 14).

I pull a Forest, hit for another 2 with the Vanguard (9 – 12), and drop the Spined Wurm. I pass, Villain scrys again, putting one card on the bottom and presumably keeping the card on top revealed in the previous scry. The kept card turns out to be an Arc Runner, which crashes into the red zone along with the Llanowar Elves. I can’t justify trading my wurm for the lava ox when the lethal Fireball is still randomly in the deck somewhere, so I block the elf, drop to 4 and race the crystal ball (4 – 12).

Greater Basilisk off the top is redundant pressure, but right now the evasive Assault Griffin is the superior choice. Villain can’t chump with the birds and still have the mana to win of a possible Fireball, so the wurm and vanguard connect before the griffin joins my team (4 – 5). Villain’s end-of-turn scry results in two cards on the bottom, so I’m looking good if I can dodge a topdecked Fireball. Villain draws and plays a land, sealing up the game and match for the good guys.

Stay Tuned!

I thought I might get this all into one article, but in my typically-verbose fashion, stuffing all three matches into a single article would be an produce an uncomfortable word count, so I will submit part two later this week. In the meantime, take a look at the pool for my second 4-Booster Sealed, and let me know in the comments or shoot an email to modogodot @ gmail.com how you would handle this pool, and I’ll discuss my choices for it in part two of this walkthrough.

You can paste the cardlist below into a plain text file and load it as a local text deck right into Magic Online for easy tinkering:

1 Ajani's Pridemate
1 Wall of Frost
1 Merfolk Spy
1 Augury Owl
1 Maritime Guard
1 Knight Exemplar
1 Canyon Minotaur
1 Liliana's Specter
1 Magma Phoenix
1 Nether Horror
1 Bog Raiders
2 Giant Spider
1 Spined Wurm
1 Air Servant
1 Child of Night
1 Berserkers of Blood Ridge
1 Viscera Seer
1 Gargoyle Sentinel
1 Rotting Legion
2 Chandra's Spitfire
1 Garruk's Packleader
1 Cloud Elemental
1 Armored Cancrix
1 Wild Griffin
1 Captivating Vampire
1 Elite Vanguard
1 Greater Basilisk
1 Gravedigger
1 Pyretic Ritual
1 Sleep
1 Tome Scour
1 Safe Passage
1 Elixir of Immortality
1 Fog
1 Giant Growth
2 Ajani's Mantra
1 Inspired Charge
1 Hornet Sting
2 Stabbing Pain
1 Lava Axe
1 Negate
1 Negate
1 Lightning Bolt
1 Mind Rot
1 Mana Leak
1 Demon's Horn
1 Kraken's Eye
1 Assassinate
1 Naturalize
1 Æther Adept
1 Traumatize
1 Chandra's Outrage

Thanks for reading, and check back soon for the thrilling conclusion! Also of note: since my last article for puremtgo, I’ve started doing video walkthroughs with my podcasting partner Marshall. Check them out and let us know what you think!

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